I'm at my wits end. My wife and I are an executor for a friend's estate and in it is a brand new Iron Horse Legend Chopper. It's a $30,000 bike that he had for less than a year and only has about 1,500 miles on it. He bought it and then spent $3,000 on upgrades, ostrich seat, LEDs, chrome, etc. Sounds good right! Should be easy to get rid of!
Boy have we had troubles. Iron Horse filed for bankruptcy and is just now coming out of it. The bike, while new, was a 2006. GMAC has been doing the floorplanning for most of the motorcycle shops in the area and now that GMAC is gone so are most of the bike shops. The motorcycle market has simply tanked.
We've advertised the fool out of it and had only 1-2 lookers. Lots of callers who really like the kind of bike, but most won't even come look. We finally called the lender and told them to come pick it up. They didn't want it either so they said that if we found a buyer they'd take $15,000ish (the wouldn't commit to a number). HALF PRICE! Now that's a great deal! Apparently not, no one still wants it.
Do any of you have any contacts anywhere that might be able to help me get rid of this thing or is there some sort of specialize sales area I can list it on. I'm not a big Harley type bike fan so I'm totally out of my league here.
To me the estate's not making a dime and it won't hurt his credit so I'm thinking just force them to come get it cause it's not worth my time, but then again I feel for the lender.
Any suggestions?
Offer it for what its worth these days, 10k or so.
Customs are one of those things that typically only one person (the one who bought it) likes enough to pay top dollar.
The problem is that we haven't been able to figure out what it's worth. But you'd think a $30k bike would be worth more than that. And it's not truly custom other than it came from the factory as a chopper.
My problem has apparently been WHERE do I offer it? Craigslist and Autotrader haven't been the right places. If they are the right places then the motorcycle market is worse than any other market out there. This is prime riding weather and yet I can't seem to locate the proper place to get in front of buyers. I'm hoping there are some bikers on the forum who can give me some suggestions.
I've gone to biker bars and handed out flyers, but all of those guys already have bikes and I've been stopping random bikers on the streets and spreading the word.
You could try Walneck's: http://www.walnecks.com/ Unfortunately I don't think you'll get a whole lot of money for it, considering the current economic condition. Plus, I think the whole super expensive custom chopper fad has passed.
What about eBay? Put it on there with one of the minimum prices you'll let it go for (I forget the ebay-speak for it), and see what happens.
neon4891 wrote:
ReverendDexter wrote:
What about eBay? Put it on there with one of the minimum prices you'll let it go for (I forget the ebay-speak for it), and see what happens.
Reserve?
Yeah, that's it!
Dang kids and their street slang....
If Ebay is my only option I'm calling the finance company in the morning and telling them to pick it up. The estate will get nothing off the sale and you can't ruin the credit of a dead man so unless I can do EASILY a good deed for some, as of yet, unsuspecting motorcycle owner who will appreciate it then I don't need the hassle.
I've watched many times items NOT sell because they are priced too low. People get skittish of hidden bad things at a too low price. In doing a quick google search, seems those bikes are in the 20-25k asking range.
I'd quit mentioning the ostrich seat. Screams Libarace, and that will definately hurt sales.
The market is what it is. Iron Horse can claim it's worth X, but if the market won't pay X, it ain't worth X, no matter how loudly Iron Horse claims it is.
As executors of the estate you need to remember that the finance company can come after the estate for the unpaid debt. While you technically will not be held liable (unless you've been sloppy or greedy), you will spend time defending the estate, and time is money. So is the lawyer you will likely have to hire.
You may want to talk with the finance company about simply auctioning the bike.
The finance company can only come after the estate for the bike, not any losses. We've checked.
I'm calling them today to tell them to come get the bike.
Jake
HalfDork
5/14/09 11:18 a.m.
carguy123 wrote:
The finance company can only come after the estate for the bike, not any losses. We've checked.
I'm calling them today to tell them to come get the bike.
Quick and simple, and the way to go. The collateral for the loan was/is the bike, nothing else. If the bike isn't worth what's owed, that's nobody's problem but the lender's. They may try to MAKE it somebody else's problem, but as mentioned, you can't really shake down a dead guy over his credit score.
Sorry for your loss, by the way.
Jake wrote:
Sorry for your loss, by the way.
Thanx for your sympathy. He was my best friend for 36 years and you know the car community has been the people who have helped the most. Amazingly the younger crowd in our local car club were the ones that helped me get thru this the most.
Mental
SuperDork
5/14/09 12:16 p.m.
Do be careful. Finiance companies are not known for their fairness in collections. Once they get a name and address to that bike, they may still try to come after you. Yes, they are wrong and yes they will lose, but they may still try. Have the lawyer to the estate's number ready, and be preapred to send certified mail citing stautes and actions should they continue. Ask me how I know...
OK, maybe I won't call them today. I'll stall it off until the estate is just about closed out.
Yeah, sorry for the loss of your friend.
Custom bikes are kinda ostriches, seat or not. People who want one, or think they do, will pay a lot for it. Then they get it and it sits there because: 1. It is so damn difficult to ride because it was made to look at and not ride that you don't want to go anywhere. 2. It is so damn unreliable because it was made to look at and not ride that you don't want to go anywhere. 3. They are usually bought by people who are not riders, but want a "bad azz chopper" like on TV. Not always, but very frequently. You don't see these bikes out on a 1K mile run to Sturgis, except in the back of a truck or on a trailer. Then you get there and they are everywhere, usually parked in front of a bar or on the side of the road as someone is staring at it wondering why it stopped (see #2).
I met a guy once that said he had "a Harley" and it was a POS, always breaking down, etc. I asked him what kind of Harley he had and he said it was a custom chopper of whatever name. I asked him exactly what part on the bike was made by Harley-Davidson and it turned out that none of it was. That's what you have (had?). And that's why it didn't sell. eBay would have been the best chance of dumping it for somewhat near its worth, whatever that might be. But this is a very bad time to be selling luxury items. I saw an ad in the paper 3 days ago for a 2009 Lowrider with 400 miles on it for thirteen large. 2 years ago, a bike like that would be 23 large. I was talking with a friend about it and the conversation was a microcosim of our economy: We both like the bike, could afford to write a check for it, it was a steal, I had no use for it (I'm motor vehicle poor), my friend has been thinking about getting a bike, but neither of us know for sure if we'll have a job next week, next month or next year and neither of us would blow that kind of change on something we don't need facing that. Multiply that out by 100 million working Americans and there's the problem.
